


White Noise

by StarsOfCassiopeia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But also Pidge's perspective, Downtime in the castle, Gen, Most of the gang gets quick mentions, Pidge works on cool tech and is just really satisfied with themself, Second Person Perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 19:03:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7857424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarsOfCassiopeia/pseuds/StarsOfCassiopeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most people write off 'white noise' as as useless nothingness, but technicians often say that machines speak, if you just listen. And sometimes in listening to others you end up realizing a little bit about yourself. [Second-person perspective, but heavily implied that 'you' are Pidge.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	White Noise

It’s been said that systems speak, and if one listens, they’ll understand. It’s almost like music, building from the soft bassline hum of the turbines. Sensors click, monitors beep, and you breathe. If it wasn’t for your need to intake oxygen, you’d have forgotten you were here, that you weren’t a part of this incredible machine.

You had been fascinated with the ship since day one. The cryogenic sleep pods, the gravity rig, the AI—oh sweet Voltron, _the AI_ —was lightyears ahead of anything that the earth techs had ever put together. And this thing was _ten thousand years old._ Imagine playing with the new stuff that the Alteans had come up with since! It made your little heart sing.

Learning how it all works is a bit of a challenge. You haven’t gotten very far into learning Altean, so the labels are gibberish, curved lines and dots that sometimes look like pictograms but rarely mean what they show. Wires are wires and bolts are bolts -- any technician would know what to do with those—but it’s the system organization, the algorithms, the interface that fascinates you. Systems never before used by human hands… you remind yourself that you are a technological pioneer, and with a metaphorical pat on the back, get back to wiping the grease off your hands.

The ticks fly by without you noticing. Lance and Keith sauntered by at some point, their footfalls making rhythmic clangs on the metal deck, but whether that was minutes or hours ago you don’t know. Coran hovered over you for a little while too, blabbing about the training schedule for tomorrow, but it went in one ear and out the other. Everything is clicks and whirrs, and even Shiro’s “Nice work, Pidge,” just becomes part of the white noise. 

There’s something beautiful about it, you think, listening to the buzz of the spinning parts and the blips of system startup. Something about the subtle sounds of an apparatus springing to life also turns _you_ on.

When you look out the window into infinite space, all you can think of is absolute silence.  
Maybe that’s why all the little sounds are so reassuring.

**Author's Note:**

> As appears to be a theme, I marathoned the entirety of Voltron last night and upon waking up said "Yeah self, go write some Voltron fic." Might do more of these later (because wouldn't it be soooo fuuuun to see what's in Shiro's head??), but here's a quick oneshot.
> 
> Time: Under an hour?


End file.
